News 2006/01

1. April, Mergelland

My races in the north ended on a high. Khalilov won the race in Mergelland, in which our team dominated completly! Early in the race there was a breakaway with Traficante from our team in it. But we suddenly saw him standing by the side of the road with cramps. Now we had to come up with another plan. But first I had to change a flat frontwheel. When I got back to the bunch we prepared an attack for Michele and Khalilov. We went full power into a climb, and away they went off the front. But then Michele punctured. We realized that this was not working out the way we wanted. So we decided to chase the leaders and close the gap. Everybody in the team gave his best for our captain. I was the third last of our team who made the pace at the front. Michele was last and closed the gap. Khalilov won the sprint of the bunch and got the win number 4 of the season for Team LPR, after Mendrisio (in which I was not racing)! There is one small setback for me. My injuries will not be completly healed until Paris - Roubaix and therefore I will not take part in that race. Thanks a lot for voting for me on the teams website, great support ;-) A small setback I said before, because now I can concentrate on my preparation for the Tour de Romandie. There I hope to see as many of you as possible by the side of the road....

30. March, 3 Days of de Panne - Stage 4

As many riders retired in the morning I was able to start to the timetrail. 120 riders were allowed. In yesterdays general classification I was outside of this contingent. But I had no ambitions, because on saturday we will have the next race already. So I will have to recover as good as possible. I am glad to have finished this very difficult race, even with my injuries I suffered from the crashes. Last year I only survived 2 days! So this is a clear improvement.

30. March, 3 Days of de Panne - Stage 3

After a short nights rest we had the start of stage 3 at 9 in the morning. The strong wind once again made the race very difficult. My legs didn't feel good at all. The time to recover was too short after the long stage yesterday in wich I was very activ. But many others felt the same too... When things got fast and hectic, a small group got off the front, and behind a big peleton in wich I finished the stage at a fairly comfortable pace.

29. March, 3 Days of de Panne - Stage 2

Today I used up a lot of energy to get in to a breakaway. But luck was not on my side and I was not able to stay in front of the peleton for a long time. Then there was a big crash on a section of wet cobblestones. There I was lucky and able to stop in time. The leader of our team was also amongst the riders who lost contact with the bunch. So we had to get him back to the front group. That also cost me a lot of energy. Towards the end of the stage when the pace got very fast I found myself in the grupetto again. The last few of the 227 km didn't seem to end. I hope to recover well, because tomorrow we will have an early start...

28. March, 3 Days of de Panne - Stage 1

I am happy with the way things worked out for me today. I wanted to finish the stage without any problems. This was very important in order to get my confidence back on the bike. The pain today was in the range of "normal", no pain no gain, this is part of cycling. I finished the stage in the grupetto. Others made the race. I hope to feel a bit better tomorrow, because I got used to the race ryhtm up here in Belgium now.

26. March, Brabantse Pijl

The pain eased off overnight a bit. I wanted to start, because I needed the race kilometers, otherwise I would have to train anyway. Not far into the race there was a breakaway already. The Quikstep Team wasn't happy with this situation, so they made a lot of pace. The speedometer showed 55 - 60 km/h for a long time. I rode near the front in the long streched out bunch and had to give everything just to stay on the backwheel of the guy in front of me. I was near to getting cramps in my right leg, wich is not injured. I must have favoured it to ease the strain on my left leg wich still hurts from the crash yesterday. Then the leaders got caught and immediately another group attacked and got away. Now at last, the pace settled down a bit. The last part of the race was on a circuit wich was just up and down. My left knee started to hurt after 2 of 5 laps and I had to sit up and let go. I am happy, because the 150 km I did today are a fairly long distance. Tomorrow is a rest day, then we will continue racing....

25. March, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen

And again....another crash! On a section of cobblestones I tried to steer slightly to the left, my frontwheel got caught on a stone, and down I went :-( I just hope the pain will ease soon, at the moment I don't feel like racing tomorrow.

22. March, Dwars door Vlaanderen

Today, it just didn't go the way we had planed. One of the reasons was bad luck.... After a big crash right at the front of the bunch, the peleton was broken up into small groups. Nobody from our team managed to get in to the leading group. We chased hard and tried to close the gap, but it was too late. We couldn't catch the leaders anymore. I felt really good today. But after the crash I had in Brissago, my confidence was not 100 % when fighting for frontpositions in the bunch. This is a disadvantage when racing in Belgium. But next saturday I will feel much better, for sure.....

17. March, Races in Belgium

My team has given me the opportunety to race in Paris - Roubaix. But I will have to get some good results in the upcoming races in Belgium first! The series of races starts on wednesday and is regarded as the best preparation for the most famous one day classic Paris - Roubaix. I have been waiting for a chance like this for a long time. So I will not be racing in Mendrisio! You can take part and support me to get in to the team wich races in Paris - Roubaix by voting for me on the Team-Homepage. It will be decided this way who gets in to the squad for Paris - Roubaix. So please help me and vote, vote ......

12. March, GP Brissago

It was not my day today! After only 15 km the race was over already! Two riders crashed in front of me and I couldn't avoid them. But that wasn't too bad yet, because I landed on my feet without getting hurt. I checked my bike and got back on to continue the race. Then a horrible thing happend! As I was chasing to get on to the back of the bunch, in a thight righthand corner, I touched our teamcar and fell again. After a long and painful slide on the tarmac I had to get up quickly and flee to the side of the road, otherwise the following teamcars would have run over me :-l What's left is pain and frustration, which I have to forget as soon as possible. The race was dominated by our team, this makes me a bit happier. Gairo got the second win of the season for our team, and with Roger finishing third LPR had two riders on the podium.

26. February, GP Lugano

Just like last year I felt better in todays race then in yesterdays. I always improve on the second day. I tried to get in to a break right from the start. There were several attacks but nobody got away. So I just held back and tried to relax a little. The San Salvatore was again the decider. When we reached the top I was only 100 m behind the leading group which sprinted for 2. place. I was alone and couldn't close the gap, sh...:-( It would have been very nice if I would have made it! But I look at it in a positive way and remain focused for the next races. I'am not too far away from the top places. So I keep training hard and will try again and again.

25. February, GP Chiasso

As expected the rhytm was higher as in Malaysia. I felt very good up until the last 2 laps. Then the batteries where empty. I lost contact but got back on just as we went in to the final lap. But then it was over, I had to let them go. The cold temperature and the rain was no problem for me. I am glad to see an improvement compared to last year. I couldn't finish and pulled out about halfway. The hard training during the winter has paid off.

12. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 10

The criterium today had to be abandond due to a very heavy thunderstorm. In some of the corners the water was as high as the boots in the pedals! It was far too dangerous to continue the race!

11. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 9

The timetrail went by without any problems. I was mentaly ready and able to push and hurt myself. I gave everything during the 16 km long race. It's a shame, I would have liked to finish in the topten. But there will be more opportuneties this year. The tour will end with a kriterium in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

10. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 8

Todays stage was very easy, only 75 km long and dead flat. We had some rain again. A group with Beuchat escaped, but they were caught again. The last kilometer with four corners was very dangerous, there were several crashes. But our sprinter got through without problems and finished with a fine third place. I had a quiet stage and was able to recover a bit. Tomorrow will be the first timetrail of the season, and I would like to get a good result.

9. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 7

The first win of the season for our team LPR! With 188 km was this the longest stage. It began as usual with a big fight for a breakaway. Compared to other days, it didn't take long today for a group to get away. Elia, the old fox of our team, together with 8 other riders broke away and escaped. About halfway through the stage we had some rain for a change. It was really pouring down! But it was still hot! The advantage of the leaders was like butter melting in the sun, it got smaller and smaller. Elia attacked a few kilometers from the finish, and was able to celebrate a win just in front of the mass sprint of the peleton.

8. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 6

I was in the first breakaway group with 6 riders in todays stage. After about 40 km we reached the first climb with an advantage of about 2 min. Unfortunately the leaders of the general classification attacked each other in such a way behind us, that we got caught, just as we reached to top of the climb. Then in the next break with 8 riders we had Gene and Massimo from our team. They worked well together and stayed ahead of the chasing peleton. The advantage they had never grew to more then 2 min 30 sec. We were delighted to see that they did not get caught. Gene almost got the first win for our team this season....

7. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 5

I can not remember riding a mountaintop finish which was as difficult as the one we had today. Up to 1700 m with real steep sections. But it was my best ever result in a stage finish on top of a mountain. I rode on super light Ambrosio Carbonwheels. The team only has 2 pairs here in Malaysia. I was in the leading group until the last few kilometers, then I had to let them go and ride my own rythm. But I was able to hand Massimo fresh drinks twice. He then finished the stage in a fine third place. Now we are staying in a very nice hotel, just a few kilometers down from where we finished the race. The perfect place to recover :-D

6. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 4

I had an easy day in todays stage which was flat and 140 km long. 8 riders escaped and decided the outcome of the race. Nobody from our team was in that group.

5. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 3

I got in to the right breakaway group today, but it cost me a lot of energy. We were 24 riders with amongst others Bates and the mountaingoat Massimo from our team and myself. We were gaining time until the Team Relax started to chase us at a faster pace with the peleton. When our advantage dropped to under 1 min we picked up the pace once more. Then at the start of the 50 km long final climb we still had 1 m 30 s. In the first steep section Massimo attacked and the whole group fell apart. I couldn't keep up with them as well and so there were only about 10 riders left in the leading group. But it was still a long way to go to the finish and they all blew up, one by one. I was glad to get to the finish without losing too much time. I still have to train a lot the next few weeks, but it is still early in the season yet ;-)

4. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 2

Todays stage worked out much better for us. There were a few breaks early in the race and we always had at least 1 rider from our team in it. Then later 2 riders got away and the pace of the peleton dropped and it was an easy ride for a while. Even though I used suncream, I got sunburned badly today. Towards the end the 2 leaders had lost all their strengh and we caught them. So we had the mass sprint we wanted. It was as usual very hectic, but we were able to put Samuele in a good position. I did my job for about 500 m, right at the front of the peleton up to the 'Flamme rouge'. The speedometer showed 55 km/h! The stage ended for me there. Samuele was on the backwheel of the winner of the stage, but ran out of steam in the last 50 m. Tomorrow will be a real test of my form. We will have to climb 1500 m to a mountaintop finish of the stage.

3. February, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 1

The first stage of the tour is behind us. Unfortunately it did not work out the way we planned it. We wanted Samuele to get a good sprint, but already early in the stage a big group broke away. There was only one rider from our team in it, not enough to do anything as the break had 25 riders. Then everything happend very fast, as the stage was only just over 80 km long. The advantage of the leaders grew to over 6 min and therefore the stage was over for us. Tomorrow we will do better....

30. January, Arrival in Malaysia

It is a bit special in this world. After the presentation of the team on thursday in Mendrisio, I stayed in the southern part of Switzerland for a few more days. The snow was as high as my head. I can not remember to have ever seen so much snow back home.... And now after a long journey we arrived in Kuala Lumpur. At 7 in the morning the temperature is already 30 degrees ! I have to get used to that first

10.-19. January, Trainingcamp with my team LPR

I spent a week training by myself in Calpe at the Costa Brava with beautiful weather conditions. Now I am staying with the whole team in Marina di Bibbone in the Toskany. The weather is sunny and fine every day, but the temperatures are still fairly cool. The new clothing of the team is mainly black. Everything is arranged perfectly. I was able to test my racingbike as well. It is 200 gramms lighter then my trainingbike. Everybody who works for the team is doing a very good job, so we can completly concentrate on pedaling ;-) The presentation of the team will be on january 26 in Mendrisio, and on january 30 we will travel to Malaysia for the first race of the year. I am very happy to be in this team and I am looking forward to the season 2006.